Perfect Chemistry
by amv4eva
Summary: May and Drew have been rivals since they were little kids, but can a single school project change that? Cruddy summary, but y'all know me. Better one in my profile. It's good. ContestPokeComfortIkairiship ping. Other random pairings I stole from stuff.
1. Chapter 1

_Amv: YAY! I'm finally posting this! My friend Gin will be happy!_

_Drew: you have a friend named "Gin?"_

_Amv: That's her nickname. Anyway, this should be fun, once the word gets out that I'm still alive. Go Contestshipping!_

_May: Yippee. Anyway, Amv4eva doesn't own Pokemon. _

**Chapter One**

The classroom buzzed over with idle chatter as students took their books and binders out of their desks; the class was at last drawing to a close. The charcoal-colored blackboard was covered in neat, chalky letters describing the proper uses of apostrophes. However, through the light-hearted bustle, a girl with long brunette hair snapped at her friend irritably.

"Stop it, Bethany!" She said, glaring at the girl who had previously been tapping her mechanical pencil impatiently onto the desk. Bethany's shoulder-length brown-blonde hair was tied into two tight braids, the right one falling over her shoulder as she turned to reply, "Come _on,_ May, English is over, who cares what we do?"

"It's giving me a headache, and I hate Mondays!" May complained, putting a hand on her forehead and covering her sapphire blue eyes.

"Everyone hates Mondays," Another girl, Misty, put in. She pointed her pencil at May as if condemning her. "_You're _just PO'd at hearing that Drew beat you in the English quiz."

"By half a point, Goddess forbid," A fourth girl, Dawn, added, replacing her lip gloss back in her purse.

May shot each girl death glares. "Shut up. I hate him! He's beaten me in nearly every Reading and English test!"

"And you beat him at nearly Math and Geography test," Bethany said, ticking the subjects off her fingers conversationally, "You're both pretty much even in Science, though," she added thoughtfully.

"As you two have been since… dinosaurs?" Misty wondered, "Or the Spanish Inquisition?"

"And I repeat: shut up!" May said as the piercing scream that doubled as the bell echoed through the building. The four girls grabbed their books and went to the door, and out into the loud, crowded hallway. May stopped outside her locker and spun the dial. Below and two lockers to the right, Bethany was ranting angrily.

"Why? Why do they make these lockers so darn SMALL? I can hardly fir my back pack, let alone all the Math and English and Science and Geography and Spanish junk they make us carry around!"

"Impressive," said a new voice, "Having a good Monday, I see."

The girls turned to see lanky, blond Jack Smith, with his hair falling into his face and holding a pile of books. He was accompanied by black-haired Ash Ketchum and purple-haired Paul Handsman. They were also laden with books and binders.

Bethany smiled. Jack, after all, was her best guy friend. "Yeah." She glanced at May with a hinting look to him. "Kind of a bad day all around."

"Hi, Paul," Dawn said, smiling cutely. He made a noncommental grunt and turned away.

"What's up, May?" Misty asked as she shut her locker. May's forehead was creased angrily as she feverishly probed her locker.

"Oh, come on, where is it? Where, where, where?" She burst out angrily.

"Where's what?" Bethany asked.

"My textbook! What else?"

"Hey," Jack cut in, "Let's take a breath here. What textbook was it?"

May frowned at Jack's usual, easy-going disposition. "My—Science—Textbook!" she hissed through her teeth.

A flicker of surprise crossed Ash's usually blank face. "Is that the one with a red rose on the book cover?"

May withdrew her head from her locker. (AN- yep, she had her head in the locker the whole time!) "Yeah, that's it. Have you seen it?"

"Um… Drew, did. Actually. He found it yesterday after class."

May frowned. And Drew returned to the picture once again. He may have been best friends with Jack, Ash, and Paul, and consequentially was forced to hang out with the girls sometimes, he was the bane of May's very existence. Cocky and arrogant, the only sophomore who could rival his intelligence was May herself. The two students had been academic rivals as far back as anyone in their class could remember. Drew excelled in Reading and /English classes, while May struck back with Math and Geography. Both students were fighting tooth and nail to be the best in Science, which would determine once and for all who was the 'champion' and would stop annoying everyone else.

As May slammed her door shut so hard people on the other end of the hall stopped and looked around, Misty, who had noticed May flushing crimson in her fury, said, "Let's get to class."

There was a murmur of agreement, and the seven quickly walked down the hallway to the classroom, which was the very last door on the left. The students were talking loudly with one another as May wove her way down the rows of desks to her own at the front of the room. She tucked her books under her desk and took her homework out of her binder before stowing that away as well. The white, lined notebook paper was full of her round, even handwriting. Since May had thought she had forgotten her textbook at school, she had phoned Bethany for the questions and answered them from memory.

_Since a lovely SOMEBODY couldn't have the decency to give it back until school was over, _May thought scathingly, turning in her seat to look at the person she hated the most, sitting across the aisle from her, checking his homework: Drew Maxwell.

"Maxwell!" she hissed. The boy glanced at her, a little smirk creasing his face. \

"Hello, Maple. It's good to see you got the homework done without your textbook."

"Yeah. About that." May held out her hand, palm facing up. "Give it back."

"Hm? Oh, you mean _this _one?" Drew replied, a mischievous glimmer lighting up his emerald eyes. He reached under his desk and pulled out a thick textbook with a fabric book cover. A crimson rose stood out on a red background.

"Yes, that one." She reached over to get it, but Drew bent his elbow so that the book hovered just above his shoulder and out of May's reach.

"Come on, after all the trouble I went to to ensure it got back to its owner safely? Don't I get a thank-you?" Drew asked in mock outrage.

"Do I look in the mood for this?"

"Oh, and there's a twenty dollar holding cost."

"Wha-? You have a job!"

"So?"

"_If you don't give me that book in five seconds, I swear I'll—"_

"Maple! Maxwell!" The teacher said from his desk. "I can hear your dulcet tones from over here. I trust you are engaging in enriched, mature, scientific conversation?"

"But of course," Drew said virtuously. "We were discussing the homework."

Under the desk he passed May her textbook, at last. May snatched it from his grasp and grimaced, thinking; _great, now I have to burn the book cover._

Mr. Peters gave a low chuckle, and then stood up in front of the room, his teacher's version of their textbook crooked in his arm. "Okay, we've got a lot to do today, so let's go over the homework quickly. Naruto, the answer to number one is…?"

"Uh… 'B: the process of water moving through cell membranes is called osmosis.'" The yellow-haired boy read off his paper.

"Yes." Mr. Peters nodded. "Now, Sohma, number two?"

"Which one?" A purple-haired boy asked, brushing his side bangs out of his face.

"Er… the one with the odd-colored hair," Mr. Peters replied, slightly off-put.

"Again, which one?" asked a boy with white hair that turned black at the roots.

Mr. Peters rolled his eyes. "You know what? Why don't all three of you answer?"

"'A: respiration,'" Yuki, Haru, and Kyo said together.

"Well, that's over with," the teacher muttered, "Number three…"

Five minutes later, their easy assignment was checked over and passed to the front of the room to be graded. Mr. Peters took a slip of his paper from his desk; May noticed several corrections and cross-outs made in red pen had bled through the back of the paper, but it was difficult, as usual, to read his handwriting. However, it was clear that he had spent a lot of time on whatever it was.

Standing at the front of his desk, the teacher said, "Well, it's April, and you all know what that means."

"Flowers come next month?" Ash said stupidly.

Everyone stared.

"Well, you all know the rhyme! 'April showers bring May—"

"Yes, we all know the rhyme," Mr. Peters interrupted. "That's not it. As you may have forgotten, April is the month of the school-wide science fair."

A collective groan rose from the class.

"Deal with it," Mr. Peters said unsympathetically. "I personally would rather continue our study of the body systems, but science fair participation points are mandatory for college.

"Now, I've already put you into groups of two and decided on your general topics. Rest assured I took into consideration people you would work well with and topics that would interest you. Now, without further ado, the groups."

May sat up even straighter in her seat and held her breath. Maybe she would be in a group with Misty or Bethany; even talkative Dawn would be cool…  
"Sora and Kairi will be doing the types of light…"

Sora and Kairi exchanged glances.

"…Kyo and Tohru will be doing states of matter…"

Tohru smiled good naturedly at Kyo, not noticing the jealous glares a few girls were shooting her.

"Hiyono and Ayumu will be doing genetics and DNA…"

Hiyono immediately pulled out her little pocketbook to see if she had any blackmail on any geneticists, and Ayumu shivered. (AN- watch the anime or read the manga and it'll seem a lot funnier.)

"…Dawn and Paul will be studying greenhouses gases…"

Dawn exploded into hysterical giggles while Paul's face drained of color.

"…Ash and Misty will be doing water ecosystems…"

Ash smiled shyly at Misty, who grinned back.

"…And May and Drew will be doing chemistry."

May's elbow slid off the desk; Drew dropped his pencil.

"WHAT?!" They cried out in horror.

"If anyone has any problems with their subject or their partner, see me when the others go to the library," Mr. Peters continued blandly as if May and Drew had not interrupted. "Everyone, line up."

May remained in her seat as the others went to the door and bustled into the hallway. Wave after wave of shock crashed over her; she couldn't believe that she was going to be forced to work with _him _for two weeks.

Mr. Peters returned to the room after watching the other students go down the hall. He did not look surprised to see May and Drew still sitting in their seats. The two sophomores stood up and walked to his place at the door.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised to see you two," He sighed. "So, what's upsetting you?"

"Two things," Drew said before May could speak. "First, chemistry is an extremely broad topic. There's no way we could possibly do a good project on everything chemistry on a single poster board—"

"I think he meant that we could do any brand of chemistry we wanted, as long as it was related to the assigned topic," May told him, shooting him an icy glare. He very easily could have shelved his pride for the three seconds it would have taken him to ask her that. Not that she cared.

"That's what I thought, I just figured I should ask," Drew retorted sharply.

Mr. Peters sighed again and interrupted the squabble. "Miss Maple is correct; you can do any brand of your subject. Now, the second issue?"

"Well…" May struggled to find the right words. "…Drew and I, sir, well, we don't exactly get along very well."

"As you two have demonstrated numerous times in the past twenty minutes," Mr. Peters said with a straight face. "Well, as I said, I took a lot of consideration into picking the groups, though it may not appear so. You see, the winner of the school-wide science fair will be sent on to the city-wide fair. All of the other teachers have agreed… if you two compete together, you have a very good chance of going to the city competition. Of course, everyone not living beneath a rock has heard the stories of you two being less than friendly to each other, but as a science teacher, I look at it a little… differently…than others do." He finished with a small laugh.

Drew glanced between himself and May and, despite himself, asked, "How do you look at it?"

Another small laugh. "Ah, forget I said anything. You'll figure it out sometime soon."

"Yeah, okay," May said skeptically. She took her books more securely into her arms and continued, "I'm going to the library. Thanks, Mr. Peters." She set off without looking back.

Drew rolled his eyes. In a voice tinged with sarcasm he said, "Thanks, Mr. Peters," and left as well. He could hear Mr. Peters chuckling enigmatically to himself behind him.

"Hold up, Maple!" Drew called after her.

May ignored him, continuing down the stairs and down another corridor. Drew's legs were longer than hers, however, and he caught up to her in about a minute.

"Thanks for waiting," Drew snapped as he fell into step with her.

"Anytime," May said coolly. "So, what type of chemistry do we want to do?"

"The kind that can make it seem like an accident if you die using the chemicals?" Drew suggested scathingly.

"I was thinking of the kind that has chemicals that can burn your hair off if it's dumped over your head," May shot back.

Drew's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"I assure you I would," May hissed as they entered the library. Some students were sitting at round tables, looking through books and taking notes. Others were walking amongst the tall bookshelves, scanning titles for anything relating to their subject. Still more were surrounding the library helpers, asking for direction to a section that had more books for them.

May threw her books onto an empty table and went off to an unoccupied area of the library, searching for titles that included "chemistry." Drew joined her in the search and stood on the other side of the aisle.

After a few minutes Drew said, "Yo, Maple, I hit the jackpot."

"Yeah, that sounded intelligent and mature," May muttered as she turned around to face the green-haired boy.

As she slowly walked to his side, her hands clasped studiously behind her back, May examined the titles. True, they were about chemistry, but they were all at least as thick as her copy of the complete Sherlock Holmes mysteries on her bookshelf at home. (A/N- I do have a copy of that book, in fact. It weighs about five pounds, no joke.) She was guessing that they would not be any less confusing to read.

Drew seemed to be sharing her thoughts. He pulled a random book off the shelf, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open. After trying to read thirty seconds worth of the small print, he closed the book. "Well, certainly not looking at _that _again. I don't think any of the seniors could have made head or tail of that."

May rolled her eyes. "Don't just pull a random book off the shelf without knowing what you're looking for."

"Then tell me what you want to work on!" Drew said heatedly, crossing his arms. "We've got to come up with something in the next…" he checked his watch. "…five minutes."

She groaned. "Excellent, really excellent."

"Isn't it?" Drew retorted, banging his head onto the books. He winced slightly and reached up to his temple. "Ow…"

"Smooth move, hitting yourself in one of the most sensitive parts of the body," May said unsympathetically. Then she noticed the book he had hit his head on. "Hey, I got it!"

"What?" Drew asked grumpily as he turned to the book May was reaching for. On its blue cover were silver words reading _Ten Scientific Phenomena that Don't Seem All That Scientific._

"I saw this and I thought, why not try and study that thing that happens with Diet Coke and Mentos? I heard that some guy ate those and his stomach blew up, we could experiment to see if that's possible!" May told him excitedly.

Drew stared at her. "Are you serious?"

"Uh…yeah," May answered, blanching slightly. "You don't like it?"

"Actually…I do. That's seriously cool!" A grin slowly began to break out across his face. "We can use a balloon or something for the stomach… but we'll need to do something about the hydrochloric acid in the stomach, that's definitely a factor… it'll also give us a chance to bring soda and candy to school," Drew added as an afterthought. He turned to her, still smiling. "Not a bad idea."

May laughed lightly. "Thanks."

The bell suddenly rang, and students grabbed their books and sprinted out of the library as if it were on fire. Shaking her head, May went to their table and grabbed her books. She and Drew glanced at each other; a distinct feeling of awkwardness suddenly washed over them.

"Well." Drew said. "Um. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Yeah," May nodded once, and they left the library, heading their separate ways to their lockers.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Tell us everything, you're not getting' out of nut'in'!" Dawn told May as soon as she sat down at the circular lunch table she shared with Misty, Bethany, and Dawn.

May frowned, looking up from her plate of cafeteria gruel. "Okay, Dawn, A) proper grammar, and B) about what?"

"About working with DREW, your RIVAL, on a CHEMISTRY project!" Dawn cried.

"We're studying Diet Coke and Mentos," May answered, knowing full well this was not what Dawn had meant.

"Oh, so _that's _what you two were laughing about," Misty said with a smirk.

"We're trying to see if we can blow up a balloon with it," May explained quickly. She was suddenly very eager to get the conversation off of her. "What are you guys doing?"

"I dunno, really. Paul never talks around me." Dawn moped slightly. She had been looking forward to getting to know the socially awkward Paul Handsman.

"Ash and I—well, knowing him, it'll probably be mostly me—are studying how oil spills and similar waste products affect coral reefs and other shallow-water ecosystems." Misty explained. "And I don't really know what I just said."

"Um, Jack and I are doing how different types and tempos of music affect the human psyche." Bethany said, "It sounds like fun."

May nodded and acted as interested as she could pass for being. She was very glad for the successful change in subject, but she hadn't a clue why.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"So…" Jack said with a slightly twisted grin to Drew, "You and May."

"You say that like I'm _dating _her," Drew replied coolly.

"Well, you know… _chemistry_," Jack stressed the last word to embellish his point. "You never know, something may come up."

"Somehow I doubt it. Anyone up for a change in subject?" Drew tacked on hopefully.

"No," Paul said, "because talking about your thing with May always makes me feel better about my thing with Dawn. At least you can string two words together when she's within twenty feet of you."

"Little steps, Paul," Ash said wisely. "Take baby steps 'til you're full grown."

"…I'm not going to comment on you quoting Fergie lyrics," Jack told him.

"Yeah," Drew added. "That was a bit weird." He was about to take a bite of his, apple, but something suddenly sunk in. He set it down and turned to Paul. "Wait, what do you mean, my 'thing' with May?"

"Oh, Drew," Jack sighed in an almost paternal way. "Isn't it obvious? You tease her twenty-four-seven."

"I know that, thanks."

"Well, why?" Paul asked him, spreading his hands slightly at shoulder height.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Well, for one, I…I…" a small frown came onto his face. "I mean, I… And she… Of course…I mean…"

The other boys watched him with little smirks growing on their faces.

"I… don't know," he said softly. Drew picked up his apple again, turning it in his hands, but he no longer felt hungry.

Ash laughed. "Case and point."

"Okay, _what _case and _what _point?!" Drew asked vehemently. "Just 'cuz I tease her doesn't mean there's a 'thing' with her! There is nothing between me and May Maple but an icy cold rivalry that's been maintained since we met!"

He finished his little rant, glaring at each of his friends in turn. _Why are they looking at me like I'm some stupid, clueless little boy? _He wondered to himself in response to their continued smirks.

Drew rested his chin in his palm and looked morosely around the cafeteria. His eyes lingered on May for a moment, taking in her appearance. Short sleeved, slim-fitting black Aeropostale t-shirt that was wrinkled slightly; tan, baggy, long cargo pants.

And then, for the merest fraction of a second, May's dark blue eyes flicked over Bethany's shoulder and peered straight into his.

The tiniest lurch in his stomach, but one enough to make Drew look away quickly, made him tell himself again though a tinge of uneasiness backed it, _There isn't a 'thing' with her, Drew. Now eat the stupid apple._

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_Amv: Well, THAT only took four months to write._

_May: When you were actually writing…_

_Amv: Eh. Well, I'll work harder on updating._

_Drew: Sure you will._

_Amv: You'll all see! Please read and review!... Wow, I haven't written that in the longest time…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Amv: Your reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks especially to: LaChicaMika, Stormy Sunshine, KengoGirl (I've missed you!), Gin, blazingeyes, condawg1, xSapphirexRosesxfanx, and TheFifthCharmedOne. Thanks so much for your support!_

_Drew: Aw, are you getting all teary?_

_Amv: I think I am…_

_May: Wow, you've been gone for a while. It's good to have you back. Here's a cookie._

_Amv: YAY!-munches on cookie-_

_Ash: Well, she hasn't changed. Anyway, Amv, our long-dead author, has returned. And she STILL does not own Pokemon. Let's get this party rolling…_

**Chapter Two**

May bit her lip as she reached for her eraser for the sixth time on question 3A for her history homework. Somehow, even though she'd read the chapter three times through already, she couldn't seem to absorb any information. With a sigh, May went back to the section and reread:

_In medieval times, society was held together by the strings of the feudalism system, which was a caste system based on power and population. At the top was the king or Monarch, and below them was the class of nobles and noblemen, who were loyal to the king. Knights, who pledged loyalty to the nobles in their turn, served the nobles in exchange for a fief. Last were peasants and serfs, who managed the land and made goods._

A short description of each caste followed, and the question she was struggling on was, "where in the world was there a similar system to the feudalism system? Write a short paragraph comparing and contrasting the two."

May knew she knew the answer—it had something to do with Japan—but, somehow, there was a block around it. She couldn't seem to concentrate.

She sighed again and rolled over onto her back. May was doing her homework on top of her red satin bedcovers in her room. In a corner was her bookcase, which was next to her reading lamp and chair, which was next to her window. Against the opposite wall was her dresser and the jewelry case she rarely touched, beside her closet. May loved her room; it was where she spent all of her down time.

May sat up and rumpled her hair with her hand and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It read 6:32 pm. Next to it was a photo from her fourteenth birthday party. Her father, Norman, her mother, Caroline, and her younger brother, Max, were in it, as well as her friends: Bethany, Misty, Dawn, Ash, Jack, Paul, and (though she had only invited him because her parents had bullied her into it) Drew.

As she slowly picked it up and held it in her hands, May founder herself gazing at his face; Drew's appearance hadn't changed much in the past year. He had grown taller, and his hair was longer, but it was still the same light green, his eyes still shone with a glimmer like polished emeralds, his slightly cocky grin still lit up his face…

"_What?"_ May asked herself aloud in disbelief. "Hello, May, this is Drew you're thinking about. Your rival. Nothing more. Get a _grip._"

Emphasizing the last word, she roughly set down the photo and picked up the textbook again, setting it in her lap and steadfastly forcing herself to write. But… the work seemed harder than usual; probably because a part of her brain was still seeing that grin on his face from earlier that day.

That smile had suddenly become devastatingly attractive to her.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_The skeletal system does six main jobs for the body: it provides shape and support, enables us to move, produces new blood cells, protects vital organs, and stores minerals and other materials until the body needs them…_

The introduction to the chapter entered and left Drew's thoughts without leaving a trace of meaning behind. As he tried to go through it a second time, his mind remained stubbornly blank. Giving it up as a bad job, he tilted back in his rolling desk chair and let his hair fall into his face.

Work that would have normally been very easy for Drew seemed to be taking him hours that night. Indeed, in two hours, he had gotten only his History, Spanish, and English homework done. He frowned slightly to himself as he spun around, stood up, and walked over to his bed and collapsed on top of it. He crossed his arms under his head, creating a kind of pillow as he stared at the ceiling.

As much as Drew tried to ignore it, he couldn't help thinking about the strange events of that day. Working with his rival on a school project, a _chemistry_ project of all things…he shook his head at his and his friend's stupidity, for imagining the double meaning of the word…

And yet… somehow, he couldn't see it all as just a coincidence. After all, what had Mr. Peters said? _"I've heard the stories of you two being less than friendly to each other…but I look at it a little differently than the others do."_ What was that supposed to mean?

Oh, and another tidbit to keep him distracted: why were his friends acting so smug about how he always teased May? Did he _need _a reason to mess with his rival? Why was it suddenly bothering him that he _didn't_ seem to have a reason?

Drew decided to investigate that later; there was one last aspect of the day that was weighing on his mind. During lunch, somehow, when May just _glanced _at him, his stomach had _flipped. _Like he was on a roller coaster, or had missed a step going down the stairs. Last he checked he had never felt that before around May.

And that's what was on his mind the most: he had never felt that before around May…

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

May yawned widely as she felt a cool spring breeze blow down the street. Though she had eventually finished her homework at nine, she hadn't gotten to sleep until midnight. Exhausted as she was, she had tossed and turned for hours.

As a result, she slept fifteen minutes late and rushed to throw on long blue jeans, a plain red t-shirt, and a gray jacket, the sleeves of which were pushed up to her elbows and the hood over her head.

She barely had two second's warning; a clatter of wheels on the cracked sidewalk behind her, and a pair of seniors flew by on the skateboards, skirting through a puddle of late-melted slush and splashing her up to her knees. As they laughed and continued down the street, May screamed after them, "YOU LAUGH NOW, I'LL BE YOUR BOSS SOMEDAY!"

"Someone's cranky," a cocky voice said from behind. May spun around to see Drew, clad in long blue jeans and a green under armor, long sleeved shirt with a dark green and white plaid shirt over it. As he moved closer, May noticed that, like her, there were dark purple circles below his eyes.

May glared daggers at him. "It looks like you didn't get much sleep, either."

Drew smirked. "I wasn't going to deny that. At least I'm not wasting my breath yelling after some seniors with one-point-five GPAs for almost running me over with their skateboards. Even if it _was _rude and inconsiderate."

May opened her mouth to give him a snarky comeback, but the realized what he had said. In a small voice she mumbled, "Oh. Um…"

Drew's smirk widened. "I didn't say I wasn't okay with it."

She stared at him for a second, her face flushing crimson in her fury. "Why, you…" she couldn't think of a bad enough word; she grabbed his collar to give him a hard shake, and he grabbed her arms to push her away, just as a new voice rang out.

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Startled, May and Drew turned to its source. It was none other than Dawn. Paul was walking a few steps behind her. A slightly perverted grin lit up her face. May looked back at Drew and noticed the compromising position they were in. She quickly released him, unexpected heat rising to her face.

"Your friend is very violent, Dawn," Drew sneered slightly as he dusted off his shirt as if May's touch had dirtied it. "She ought to carry a stress ball around. C'mon, Paul."

Paul gave a short nod and ran to catch up to Drew. May stared after Drew's shrinking figure, seething. Of all people to leave her alone with after that, it had to be Dawn.

"So, what was _that _about, May?" Dawn asked, her grin back.

May slowly turned to her. "None of your business Dawn," she spat. Then she yelled into the sky, "I HATE HIM!"

"Either you're really mad or you're blushing," Dawn said matter-of-factly as she walked past her friend.

May put a hand up to her cheek as if she had been slapped. True, the skin under her fingers was slightly warm, but was she really…?

"What am I doing, thinking about this? I'm gonna be _late!"_ May cried aloud as she started to sprint to school.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

The homeroom bell rang just as May slid into her seat. She heaved a deep sigh and laid her head on top of the pile of books in front of her, a drop of sweat running down her temple. After sprinting the rest of the way to school, May had thrown her things into her locker and pulled out her supplies in a similar fashion. She had then dashed downstairs to her homeroom class.

"Nice," Bethany complimented from across the aisle. "Two seconds to spare."

May cracked open an eye and grinned. "Thanks."

Bethany looked furtively around the room, then leaned over and said in a low voice, "Yo, May. You know I'm not a big gossip girl, right?"

May picked up her head to rest it on her arms. "Um, you're my best friend. Of course I do. Why?"

"I just needed the full story on this… Dawn ran up to Mist and I about five minutes ago and told us that she ran into you and Drew on the way to school, um… about to share lip gloss."

May sat straight up: the return of her previous irritations with Dawn had caused her to wake up. "She _wishes._ Some seniors just skirted by on their skateboards, Drew made a comment on it that I didn't appreciate, and I decided to strangle him. She just came by at the wrong time."

Bethany's lip twitched. "I thought it might be something like that. I'll tell Misty the truth too if I see her."

"Wonderful," May replied.

The bell releasing them from homeroom rang at that moment, and with another sigh, May picked up her things and bid Bethany a short good-bye. Bethany's first class was Spanish, while May's was History.

"Hey, May," Misty said as they lined up outside the classroom. "Bethany tell you about Dawn?"

"Yeah. Dawn just came by at the wrong time." May told her.

"I figured. Dawn doesn't have much common sense, you know? I love her, but she drives me nuts," Misty rolled her eyes.

"Yeah." May nodded, and Mr. West let the class in. May sat in her seat at the back corner and took out her homework. Mr. West, with his fluffy white hair, think glasses, and kindly face, stood up at the front of the room and motioned for quiet.

"Good morning, and happy Tuesday." He smiled at the collective groan that rose up from the students. "Well, I've decided that I wasn't feeling well, so you'll just get to read the textbook and take notes today. I promise we'll have a fun class next time," he added in response to even louder moans. "Please do the chapter on the Church Reformation on page 561."

May reached under her desk and grabbed her notebook and opened it to a fresh page. After dating it and titling it "Reformation" she reached under her desk for her textbook only to find that it wasn't there.

_Huh? Ah, crud, did I leave it at home?_ May wondered. Come to think of it, she didn't have a clear memory of putting it in her backpack, meaning it was still on her dresser back home. That day was getting better every minute.

At that moment, Mr. West stopped nest to her desk. With a knowing look in his twinkling eyes, he asked, "Did we forget something, Miss Maple?"

May grimaced. "I left my textbook at home. Sorry."

Mr. West waved an airy hand. "No need to apologize; this is the first time, after all."

May smiled. "Thank you. May I share with Misty?"

Mr. West's smile grew broader. "I heard about the science fair project groups from Mr. Peters. Why don't you work with Drew? You two ought to work on your, er, _co-working _abilities? You'll be working as a team for two weeks, after all."

Drew looked up at the sound of his name and said, "Sorry?"

The genial teacher clapped a frozen May on the shoulder. "Miss Maple will be working with you today!"

Drew stared uncomprehendingly at him. "Sorry?"

"Didn't you hear? I'm working with you," May said with false enthusiasm as she went over to his desk. She dragged a chair up beside his.

"Yippee," Drew muttered sarcastically.

May ignored him, scribbling down different bulleted reasons why people were unhappy with the Catholic Church in the 1500s. But just as she was about to write the definition for "indulgences," Drew tried to turn the page.

"No, wait, wait!" May cried.

"Hurry up. You've got three seconds."

"Wait!" May repeated, writing faster.

"Three…two…one…"

"I said _wait,_" May snapped, her hand enclosing his as he tried to turn the page.

What neither of them was prepared for was the electricity-like jolt that rocketed up their hands and into their arms. They looked straight at each other for a few moments, then glanced in opposite directions.

Drew pulled his hand free and coughed awkwardly. "Fine, whatever."

May bit her lip and returned to the page, surreptitiously closing her left hand into a fist. The nerves of her hand were still tingling as if the had run a live wire through them.

The rest of the class went by quietly for May and Drew; the only words they shared were "are you done?" or "yeah" or "what does it mean when it says…?"

Finally, after what felt like eons, the bell announcing the end of class rang. May jumped slightly, then rushed to get her things. She bumped into Drew again at the door. Just like yesterday outside the library, they both suddenly felt very awkward.

"Well… I'll see you in science," May told him. Drew looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. He nodded shortly and weaved through the crowd to second-period Spanish.

May stood watching the back of him disappear in the rush of students, which took less time than May found she cared for.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

Drew stared at the poster of –er verbs next to his desk, his pencil held loosely in his hands as he doodled in the margins of his notebook. His brain seemed to have disengaged.

Actually, no. His thoughts had been fuzzy since the beginning of History, when May had grabbed his hand to stop him from turning the page.

Drew looked at the back of his hand as if fascinated by it. Why had he gotten this… lukewarm, tingly feeling? And why did his stomach do a back flip again? And when she met his eyes… he could have sworn his heart had skipped a beat.

He blew out a puff of air, making his bangs float upwards for a moment. All he had wanted to do was figure out why he teased her, to ease the feeling of almost guilt from the pit of his stomach. That's why he had made her mad on the way to school and in class: and he'd found out why.

Drew had noticed it when he annoyed her on the way to school, and more so in class: the way her face flushed pink across her nose and cheekbones, her eyes narrowed and glinting dangerously, it wasn't cute; it struck him as _adorable._

He felt himself going red as he went through his memories. It wasn't as if antagonizing May was a new concept to him; he'd been doing since he had met her. She'd always made that face.

So why was it so cute to him all of a sudden?

And why was he just starting to notice it?

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxo**

"Hey, May!" Misty called to her friend in the hallway, Bethany and Dawn close behind her. They were all heading down to the library, where their science classes would be for the week. "How was history with Drew?"

Dawn gave a theatric gasp that made everyone within a ten-foot radius stop and stare. "You worked with Drew in history? This just keeps getting better and better!"

"You're a freak. I left my textbook at home and Mr. West _made_ me work with him." May rolled her eyes.

"Dawn, we have to give you a few lessons in subtly," Bethany said irritably as Jack came up to.

"Uh-oh," He said. "You've got the angry face on. How about some easy tunes to brighten your mood?" Then, despite his arms being full with heavy books, he shifted them into the crook of his arm and dug a blue iPod out of his pocket.

"Nah, I need to crank up the My Chemical—MY iPOD!" Bethany screamed. "YOU FOUND IT!"

"Bethany, you left it at my house last night, you can't have been without it for more than fifteen hours," Jack said with a grin as he lay it on top of her Spanish textbook.

"You were at Jack's house? Ooh-la-la, Bethany!" Dawn trilled.

"Why does it always have to go there?" Misty asked, exasperated.

"Because she's Dawn and that's what Dawn does," Ash said, guessing at the topic of conversation as he joined the group with Paul close behind.

"But we love her," May said as she pat Dawn on the head like she was a puppy.

The others laughed as they entered the library. They all set their things on a table and went to separate sections of the library that had the information they needed. May didn't see Drew, but she had an idea about where he was. Sure enough, when May went to look, she found him in the Chemistry section, craning his neck to see the titles on the highest shelves.

He heard her footsteps on the wooden floor. He turned and flashed her one of those fleeting grins that she was suddenly so crazy about. "Hey."

May smiled back for a moment. "Hi." She quickly went to the books on the other side of the aisle, scanning the books. After a few minutes, Drew spoke.

"So, how was reading?"

May looked back at him over her shoulder. "Boring."

"Shocker," he muttered sarcastically. May laughed softly.

"How about you? In Spanish?"

"Er…I wasn't really paying attention," Drew admitted. It was true: his little epiphany about why he teased her had kept him distracted for the entire class. He was having trouble thinking straight now. "Well, I mean, I heard Senora Gomez yelling at someone that double L's are pronounced 'y,' but other than that, I was sorta out there."

May eyed him curiously. "Why? That's hardly like you."

Drew met her eyes and suddenly felt rather warm around his face and neck. Tugging at his collar, he said, "I told you I didn't get much sleep last night."

May shrugged. "True."

They reached the end of the row and slowly turned to face each other, empty handed. May said, "You didn't find anything?"

"Obviously not." Drew said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But, really, what were we looking for?"

May stared at him. "That's why I asked. I thought you knew. 'Cuz I didn't!"

Their eyes met, and they broke out into nervous laughter that became real laughter at their stupidity.

"What a waste of ten minutes," Drew said finally. "So, what should we be looking for?"

May thought for a moment, then said, "Well, let's think. What category does the Diet Coke-Mentos thing fall under?"

Drew frowned. "Chemical? Chemical chemistry?"

May laughed, applauding him for a moment. "Very good, Maxwell."

"I always told you I was the smart one," Drew said proudly. "Go me!"

"Great. Now go down there and get all the books you see on 'Chemical Chemistry,'" May told him, getting serious.

Drew blanched. "That's…a lot."

"You wuss," May rolled her eyes. "Come on." (A/N- there goes all the flirtation…)

She went down the row, studying the shelves again. May grabbed a book on the chemistry required to make carbonated sodas. Drew found the _Ten Scientific Phenomena _book from yesterday. They sat at a table for the rest of the period, taking notes and telling each other interesting or random facts they found.

But whenever the reading grew dry, or the reading grew difficult, May found herself glancing at Drew's profile once or twice.

_It's so weird,_ She thought_, I act like I hate him for my entire life, but one school project… and it's like he's almost my…friend. Is this what it would be like if we actually tried to get along?_

With a sigh, she went back to the book. _Time will tell…_

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Okay, May, can I just say one thing and I'll let it drop for today?" Dawn asked.

"What's the one thing?" May asked suspiciously.

"I saw you two laughing together on the other side of the library, and I _know_ I caught you staring at Drew when you were sitting together." Dawn said with a smirk.

_Maybe I wasn't just 'glancing' at him, _May thought while the other two girls leaned in.

"May? Were you?" Misty asked.

"'Course not," May lied. "Why would I?"

Dawn smirked. "She's in denial," she told Bethany and Misty.

"Pff. May will tell us what she wants to when she wants to. No pressure." Bethany said as she leaned down to get something out of her backpack.

Over her shoulder, May had a clear shot of Drew, sitting with his friends across the cafeteria. As if her gaze alerted him, Drew glanced her way. For a moment, he held her gaze.

Strange… So much power, so much influence that gaze had over her, making her heart suddenly beat erratically. May was starting to like that. She smiled at him, then looked quickly away. She couldn't help but wonder if her smile did anything to him near what his smile was starting to do to her.

But was exactly was it doing to her?

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_Amv: Finally, this is done! Did anyone else want to punch Dawn during this chapter? Because I did! Please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Amv: Chapter three, now!_

_Drew: Well, seeing that the last chapter was chapter two and the one before that was chapter, well, ONE, we assumed it wouldn't be chapter twenty-three._

_Amv: I oughta smack you._

_May: Please do._

_Jack: Smacking Drew won't get the writing done, you know. Just like writing this stupid mini conversation isn't doing anything. _

_Amv: True that. Anyway, I'm very sorry for not updating for such a long time, I've been grounded from my computer (shocker, I know). This chapter isn't as long as the first two, but it's not because I just want to put something up, but my Chapter 3 was always going to be kinda short. Please enjoy!_

**Chapter Three**

Narrow strips of moonlight shining through the blinds illuminated Drew's bedroom as he rolled over, trying to get comfortable on his bed. After punching his pillow into a potentially more comforting shape, he lay on his side, his elbow curved and his hand resting a few inches from his face. From his position, he could see the digital clock on his bedside table reading 12:30 am.

Drew had gotten into bed three hours ago, and was no closer to falling asleep than he had been at 9:30. Without his permission, the most memorable events of his day were in a constant replay in his head, and they all included May.

With a groan he rolled onto his back, both of his hands mussing up his hair. May's voice was echoing in his head as if she were in the room with him: _"Why, you-!" "Didn't you hear? I'm working with you." "I said _wait._" "Boring." "That's why I asked. I thought you knew. 'Cuz I didn't!"_

And then, when Drew actually let himself, or even when he closed his eyes, he could see her face in his mind: looking ready to kill him, laughing with him, casting him a quick smile from across the cafeteria…

A smile that would've make his knees shake if he'd been standing up… that made his heartbeat stutter… that made a warm feeling he couldn't remember feeling before spread all the way through him…. (A/N- no nasty thoughts, people!)

Then a barrage of questions would crowd in his mind, piling on top of each other, interchanging before he could answer any of them; what was wrong with him? Why now? Why May? Why hadn't he ever felt this way around her before? Had it always been like this, but he hadn't noticed? Why didn't he try and be nicer to her? Why was he obsessing over this? Why was she suddenly the only thing on his mind? Why was just her smile making his stomach churn and flip like he was on a roller coaster?

Last… Drew sat up, burying his face in his hands as he wondered… _what—is—this—feeling?_

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"I feel a lot better going to school today than yesterday," May observed happily to herself en route to school the next morning. She had gotten a good night's sleep and had awoken on time today, so she's had time for a decent breakfast and picking out a cute outfit: faded blue jean capris and a red tank top.

"Yo, Maple," She heard a voice call from behind her.

"And there it goes," May mumbled as she turned around to see Drew. Her voice was suddenly a little anxious. "Are you alright?"

"M'fine," Drew replied. He certainly didn't look fine. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans, and he had dark purple circles below his eyes, which were partly obscured by his messy hair.

"You look like you didn't get an hour's sleep last night," May said with a frown, watching Drew comb his fingers through his bed head.

"Maybe an hour and a half," Drew replied. "Remind me what today's schedule is? We have all the same classes today, don't we?"

"Yeah. It's Wednesday, so it's English, Math, AP, Lunch, Gym, and a free period for sophomores in the last period." May told him. "Seriously, you look awful. Why on earth were you up all night?"

"Couldn't sleep," Drew bit his lip, looking a bit nervous all of a sudden. "Hey… do you want to work on the project during that free period?"

"Don't you usually do homework with the guys?" May asked, a little startled.

Drew looked forward to the school looming ahead of them and coughed awkwardly. "Well, yeah. And I know you work with the girls during that period too, but we're, um, behind. That is, some people are taking their notes and deciding the steps to their experiment, but we only have five pages of notes between us so far."

"Sure," May said nonchalantly. "I'll tell the girls."

"Oh." Drew sounded relieved.

"What were you so nervous about? For a second I thought you were going to ask me out, or something. You act weird when you don't get enough sleep," May shook her head and left to talk to Bethany near the door. Drew stared after her, thankful that she hadn't noticed his face flushing crimson. Then kicking himself.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Maxwell, keep your head _off your desk!_" Mrs. Fibonacci swatted Drew in the back of the head with her math book for the third time that period.

"Sorry…" Drew muttered as he rubbed his eyes and went back to his pre-calculus. He stared at the same problem for two full minutes before figuring out the first step to solving it. His mind slipped in and out of focus, quite unlike his usual self. Generally, Drew could breeze through the problems and finish half of his homework before the class was over, but he was so exhausted that he had only done a quarter of the work.

Drew's mind had been so restless the night before that he had tossed and turned in bed until it was literally 5:00 am. His alarm went off at 6:30.

Someone from behind kicked the back of his chair, _hard_, as he started to doze off again. He spun around to glare angrily at May, but his face quickly softened; she seemed genuinely concerned about him and she mouthed, "Stay _awake!"_

Drew nodded and turned to face the front of the room again. He understood what she meant; Mrs. Fibonacci was an extremely strict disciplinarian. Just chewing gum in her class resulted in a month's worth of detentions; falling asleep in her room could well be the rest of the year.

He pinched himself hard to wake himself up, but he didn't seem to need it. The idea of May caring about him acted like a stimulant as much as a caffeine pill would.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Hey, Drew," Jack said softly so as not to be heard as they worked in the back of the library during AP. "You were a wreck in Pre-Calc. What's up?"

"I haven't slept well in a few days," Drew confessed, glancing up from _Watership Down,_ which he had admittedly lost all interest in on page two. There were only so many ways to describe a bush and the intricacies of the life of a rabbit.

"Ah." Jack nodded knowingly. "Got May on your mind?"

"No!" Drew snapped, then he bit his lip. There was no point in lying to Jack; he was more social than Paul and less dense than Ash. Not to mention, his absolute best friend in the entire world was a girl who happened to be one of May's best friends. "Yeah, kinda."

Jack waited patiently as Drew took out his questions to Chapter 15. Finally, Drew said, "I don't get it. I've been her rival at school for our entire lives, I've teased her for just as long, we hardly ever talk, and one school project, and… suddenly… she's all I can think about!"

Jack nodded. "You two had any 'moments?' Aside from her trying to strangle you on the way to school yesterday?"

Drew smiled weakly. "Well…I tried to turn the page in the textbook in History the other day and she grabbed my hand to stop me. I could've stuck my whole arm in a light socket."

"Anything else?" Jack prompted.

"She smiled at me from across the cafeteria and kicked my chair so I wouldn't fall asleep in Pre-Calc and have detention 'til I'm forty," he added.

"Okay. Awesome. Thanks for catching me up on your budding romance," Jack said before turning back to the calculator he wasn't supposed to be using.

"'Budding romance?'" Drew repeated angrily. "You wish! I don't like her now! How could I? I've acted the same way towards her my entire life, I can't just suddenly start _liking_ her!"

"Maybe you didn't 'just start liking her.' Maybe you've liked her your entire life and you're just now starting to realize it," Jack said coolly.

Drew was thankful that Jack was distracted because he didn't notice his green-haired friend's face flush scarlet: either in embarrassment or fury, he himself didn't know.

"I do not like Maple like that!" In any way, shape, or form! I hate her, and I always will! And I'm _sick _of this dumb _book,_ you can only read about rabbits for so long!" Drew hissed, throwing his things into his bag, zipping it, and standing up. "See you at lunch." He stalked out of the library, earning a reproachful glare from the aged librarian.

Jack watched after his friend with a mildly amused expression on his face. He chuckled before turning back to his work. "He's in denial."

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Denial? As in, he's FINALLY figuring out that he likes May?" Bethany said in her normal voice as she and Jack walked down the hallway to lunch. In the bustle of students running and screaming to the cafeteria, their conversation went quite unnoticed.

"Yep. Do you mind trying to figurer out if May likes Drew yet?" Jack asked.

"I'm not a gossip girl, but since you asked…" Bethany grinned coyly.

Jack gave her a quick peck on the cheek after glancing quickly around. "No one saw that, right? So we won't get suspended for PDA—"

"—And none of our friends saw?" Bethany finished with a sad smile.

"Yeah." Jack sighed. "When are we going to tell them we're dating?"

"Maybe they'll just figure it out?" Bethany suggested.

"Pff. That'll be the day Paul says more than five words to Dawn in a sentence. I heard she's getting frustrated with him." Jack said with a laugh.

"She just thinks he's special ed." Bethany shrugged. "Anyway, I'll find out about May, I'm getting a little curious myself."

Jack smiled. "Alright. See you later, then."

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"You sure you don't want to just sleep this period, Maxwell?" May asked. She felt nasty for calling by him by his surname when he was in a bad position, but she felt awkward to call him by his name.

Drew nodded, avoiding her gaze as he sat down to the chair in the library. His eyes slowly traveled down the page, his mind moving sluggishly. May was too busy to notice Drew rest his head onto the book like it was a pillow, his eyes on her face.

He couldn't look away; her long, dark hair draped across her face, her sapphire eyes moving down the page with a growing understanding of their subject. Something about her just made his heart rate stutter.

"_Maybe you didn't 'just start liking her. Maybe you've liked her your entire life and you're just staring to realize it." _Jack's voice echoed in his head. Typically annoying and cryptic words from his blond friend, but, possibly, with a kernel of truth this time around?

Drew sighed as his last conscious thought went through his head before he dropped off to sleep: _Maybe… Just maybe._

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_Amv: I hope that chapter made up for my long absence. It's not very good, I know, but I hope to get the next chapter up at some point soon. I hope…! Please review!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Amv: Well, my readers, what you have just experienced is Amv getting a D on her first Bio test, losing computer privileges until her grades her all A's again, and then having a huge swim meet. I hope this chapter makes up for my long absence. _

_I don't own Pokemon!_

**Chapter Four**

May jumped as the bell announcing the end of the day echoed through the building. Students outside the library ran down the halls to their lockers in their desperate bids for freedom.

"Max—" May stopped; Drew had fallen asleep, his head resting on the book, his green hair falling over his face. She smiled sadly; he was a trooper to make it through the day without too much trouble.

She gently took the book and put it away with hers then returned to shake his shoulder. "Hey, Maxwell, wake up."

"Wha…?" Drew asked blearily, picking up his head and blinking the drowsiness away. "Aw, crap, did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah." May nodded. "The bell rang about two minutes ago."

"Ugh… I'm sorry," Drew stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I really didn't mean to leave you to do all that on your own."

"It's fine, I didn't exactly get very far," May said with a shrug before picking up her bag. "I have my stuff, ready to go?"

Drew nodded. He took his backpack and they left the building. The streets around the school were quiet, and May and Drew were, too. They reached the street where May turned right and Drew continued onwards without speaking. It was here where they both hesitated and turned to each other. Their eyes locked.

May held her textbook to her chest. Her heart started to pound against her ribs, a steady drumbeat thudding in her ears. The look in his eyes wasn't one she'd ever encountered in any boy's, let alone Drew's, gaze before when they looked at her. She held her breath.

"See you tomorrow…" Drew said slowly before starting to turn away. May looked at her feet, her heart, oddly, sinking into the ground…

"…May."

May looked up again and stared after Drew's retreating back. Now her heart was going so fast it throbbed against the walls of her throat. Her face flushed fire-engine red across her nose and cheekbones.

That was the first time Drew had ever called her by her first name.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_How pathetic, _May bullied herself as she went down the street the next morning. _Why on earth did I react that way when he said my name? At least he knows it! And why was he on my mind all last night, anyway? At least until I fell asleep…_

May sighed as she stretched her arms up to the sky. Maybe it was because of Drew, maybe not, but she had put a bit more effort in making sure her clothes looked cute than she usually did in the morning. Eventually she had decided on a dark blue button up shirt and long, dark jeans.

There came a familiar rumbling of wheels against pavement, and the seniors who had passed her on Tuesday rolled by again. This time, however, they kicked their boards up, caught them, and spun around to face May, who had stopped in surprise.

Both boys were taller than her and dressed in baggy jeans and hoodies. The silver-haired boy's hoodie was red, while the boy with shaggy blond hair had a green one. They leered at May with identical grins.

"'Ello, poppet," The boy in the red hoodie said. He sounded like the guy who cornered Elizabeth in the closet in _Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. _A high-school boy who talks like a pirate can hardly be a threat, so May relaxed slightly.

"Morning," May said as she went by. Hopefully, they hadn't heard her yell after them on Monday.

Today clearly wasn't her day.

"Hey, that's the chick who said she'd be our boss!" Green Hoodie crowed, stepping in front of her. "Little Miss High-'n-Mighty!"

"Yeah, yer right!" Red Hoodie agreed. "What makes you think you're best, poppet?"

"My four-point-oh GPA." May replied.

"Ooh, four-point-oh! We've got a miss smarty here, too!" Green Hoodie mocked. "If she's so smart, maybe she'll do her homework for us."

"I doubt that," May brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm and wheeled her around.

"Why not?"

If May hadn't been so stunned, she would probably come up with another smart-alecky comment that would have, most likely, gotten her into more trouble. But it didn't matter; out of nowhere, a hand chopped swiftly down onto Green Hoodie's wrist. The senior released her, swearing angrily, as his assailant spoke.

"Back off, loser. The only student in this high school who can mess with her is _me._"

May stared, openmouthed, up at Drew. His hair was half-on, half-off his face, his eyes over bright, one strap of his backpack hanging off his shoulder. He was panting slightly, and his face was slightly flushed. He'd come running.

Red Hoodie yelled, "Whaddaya think yer doin'? Hittin' my friend!"

"Who grabbed mine. Is that your idea of fun, bullying some random sophomore?" Drew shot back. His fists clenched as he stared the two boys down.

The boys leered at each other, then grabbed their skateboards. "Let's go." Green Hoodie said.

As they rolled by, Red Hoodie swung his backpack round at Drew. Whether or not he used the heavy textbooks in there was a moot point as the green-haired teenager was sent flying.

"Are you alright?" May asked anxiously as Drew picked himself up off the ground. Drew glared angrily at her.

"What were you _thinking, _mouthing off a couple seniors? You know as well as I do that Joey and Brad are a bunch of thugs!" He snapped.

May frowned, angry at his tone. "I asked if you were alright," she said through gritted teeth. Now she was the one staring him down.

Drew's face softened slightly and he put a hand to his upper left arm. "He hit me on the muscle with the corner of a textbook, so I won't lie and say it doesn't hurt, but I'll live. I blame you."

May had to bite back a smile. "Do you need ice or anything? The last thing I need is a lawsuit from you, suing me for every penny of my college funds."

"Jeeze, I'm not that heartless." Drew shook his head. "I'm fine."

He started walking, May falling into step beside him. "You sure?" She asked. "You don't want a bruise or anything."

"You sound like my mother." Drew cast her a quick grin that made her stomach flip. "Wait—what's the schedule today?"

"Um, we only have a few classes together…first period English, then Science last period." May said. "Can't help you with anything else, I haven't got your schedule memorized."

"Suddenly there's a searing pain in my arm," Drew muttered. "I think I will get that ice."

"What? You're _skipping?"_ May asked, scandalized.

"No, of course not! Just the first twenty or so minutes! That's our reading time, anyway," Drew rolled his eyes. "I read ahead to get the book over with. I hate _Watership Down, _anyway."

"It sucks." May agreed.

They had reached school and were now in the halls, dodging students that ran down the middle and keeping an eye out for their senior friends.

"Here's the nurse," Drew said outside the room. "I'll be there soon. Tell Shakespeare why I'm late."

May smiled. "Shakespeare" wasn't really their teacher's name, but Drew had nicknamed her Shakespeare because of her obsession with that literary unit.

"Will do." May looked away and fumbled with a strap on her bag. Her face flushed slightly as she said, "Feel better…Drew."

Before he could respond, she left. Drew stared after her, his heart leaving his chest to beat against the walls of his throat. As he watched May vanish amongst the crowd, he reached up to run a hand through his hair as a grin broke out across his face.

'Cuz that was the first time May had ever called him by _his _name.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Hey, Bethany!" May said with undisguised cheer as she met up with her friend outside Shakespeare's classroom.

Bethany raised an eyebrow. "Hello to you, too. I notice you're cheerful today. May I ask why you were skipping down the hallway?"

May's eyes widened as she stammered. "I—I was skipping?"

Her reaction definitely sparked Bethany's interest. "Ye-e-s." She drew the word out into three syllables. "Why?"

"Um, no reason! It's a nice day!" May said quickly. Her face felt very warm all of a sudden.

"Hey, chill," Bethany patted May on the shoulder. "I'm not chewing you out, you just seemed more cheerful than you've been in a while and I was wondering why."

May shrugged as the teacher let them into the room. Her real name was Ms. Connel, and posters bearing quotes from Shakespeare's numerous poems and plays adorned the walls. The only areas without the memorabilia were the windows (which were always closed with drapes in front of them to keep the light out) and the chalkboard.

May sat in her row at the back of the room beside Bethany as Ms. Connel stood at the head of the class.

"Today, we will start with twenty minutes of silent reading," She began, as if this was anything outside the normal routine. "Then we will check our study guide questions."

There was some shuffling around as students took out their books. Ms. Connel began to take attendance.

"Anderson."

"Here," Bethany said from the bookshelf.

"Hayama."

"Here."

"Hyuga."

"Here."

"Imai."

"Present."

"Ketchum."

"Huh?" Ash abruptly woke up from his nap.

"Li."

"Here."

"Maple."

"Here."

"Maxwell."

No one spoke of course, seeing that Drew was "getting ice." Everyone looked around; it was unusual of him to be absent.

"He's in the nurse," May told Ms. Connel. "He told me to tell you he'll be a little late."

Ms. Connel looked surprised, either at Drew's whereabouts or the fact that he told May about them. Nevertheless, she continued: "Nogi…"

Attendance was soon taken, and the class continued silently. Most students were passing notes to one another. Ms. Connel was trying to outbid xxshakespearian2012 for a limited-edition copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream _on Ebay. May's mind was far from the rolling English hills in her book, her eyes constantly flickering from the page, to the clock, to the door…

Finally, the door opened, and every face turned to Drew as he walked inside. He went to Ms. Connel's desk without meeting any of their eyes and handed her his pass.

"Are you alright, Maxwell?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry for being late." Only Drew could hate someone and still act like Edward Cullen to their face.

"It's fine, it's fine," the teacher trilled. "What happened?"

"I fell," Drew replied simply, looking around the room. May was one of the only people still looking at him. He met her eyes and threw her a mischievous grin and winked.

May's heart turned over as she felt her face heat up. She looked back at her book quickly, her hair falling over her face, curtaining it from his view.

But not from Bethany's. Her braided friend stared at May's scarlet face then up at Drew. His face had fallen and he looked towards the ground as he walked slowly to his desk across the aisle from May's. He glanced at May briefly before sitting down.

The logic rushed through Bethany's head and she nearly started dancing on the desk. Jack was right! Drew didn't just like May and was in denial over it—judging from the way he'd just looked at her, he was crazy for her! And if May's still-red face was any indication, May was falling fast and hard for him, too.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"So, May…" Bethany began as she looked up from her homework. She kept her voice quiet since the two girls were in the library during study hall. "What really happened to Maxwell before English?"

"What makes you think I would know?" May asked sharply, looking up from her Spanish translation.

"Your tone. And you were the only one to tell Shakespeare why he wasn't in class," Bethany said smartly.

May relaxed slightly. "Well, I don't see why I can't tell you. On the way to school, some dumb seniors were trying to make me do their homework. I snapped at them, and one grabbed me—"

"You serious? Why didn't you go to the office and report them?" Bethany cried. "And where does he come in?"

"I'm getting to that. One grabbed my arm, and he… Drew just ran in out of nowhere. He punched the guy's arm, told them to back off. They left, but one of them knocked him down with his backpack. Drew wasn't really seriously hurt, he was just skipping." May finished. She turned to see Bethany staring openly at her.

"Who saved you again?"

"Drew. I just told you that."

"I know, it's just…" Bethany struggled for words.

"I hadn't thought the seniors would grab me, either," May said.

"Well, of course I'm peeved about that, you should have gone to the principle, or at least told Misty, she'd've taken care of them…" May laughed. "But that's not it."

"Oh?" May looked up again. "Then what is it?"

"You said his name. Drew's." Bethany studied May with a piercing blue gaze. "Twice."

May immediately understood Bethany's confusion. She had never called Drew by his name until that morning. Likewise, she was loathe to utter the word around Bethany, Misty, and Dawn in conversation. So, saying his name twice in the space of about thirty seconds was bound to surprise her friend.

May colored as she mumbled, "Well, I've known him for a long time. I might as well grow up a bit and start calling him by his name."

_That's not it, _Bethany thought, gazing at May's face. She leaned over and asked softly, "What's going on between you two?"

"Noth…" May stopped herself as she thought about the events of the past few days: catching his eye across the cafeteria, suddenly finding him on her mind her every waking minute, touching his hand in History, being saved from those seniors, his wink to her, the way he had looked at her on the way home yesterday…

May looked down at her Spanish book and replied in an even softer tone, "I don't know."

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Attention, everyone," Mr. Peters called to the library that afternoon halfway through the period. "After three days, you ought to have sufficient research for your project, though if you need more you may work in the library with your partners on your own time. On Friday we will all begin planning our experiments in class, and you must also carry them out on your own time. We will set up our tri-folds next week. Thank you, you may now get back to work."

Through the outbreak of muttering this announcement that erupted, May turned to Drew, sitting across from her.

"Are we ready to put the experiment together?" She asked, a wan expression on her face.

Drew looked at the notebook where they had compiled all of their notes and plans for the project. "We have only ten pages of notes. I'd say we need more, since we're doing such a difficult subject."

May bit her lip. "We could go to the library this weekend if we have to."

"I'm sorry, May," Drew looked worried, too. "I have to work during both days this weekend, and I don't want you to do all of the research like you had to yesterday. That's not fair."

May, still unused to him calling her by her name, flushed faintly and looked away before saying, "Then I really don't know what to do. Maybe we…"

"What?" Drew prompted.

"I don't know," May admitted. She looked back at him. "Can you take time off?"

If that was an invitation to spend the day doing the project with her, Drew found that he would have gladly dropped work in a second, but he forced himself to say, "I would, but everyone else has already taken off for the weekend."

"What, you're working by yourself?" May asked, momentarily distracted.

"Well, Syaoran Li will be there—you know, that quiet guy in English—but it's just the two of us."

"That sucks," May said.

"Kinda. But it has its compensations. My manager's splitting the pay everyone would have gotten for the weekend between the two of us and whoever serves the most coffee gets the whole tip jar."

"Well, then," May said sheepishly before turning back to her notes. She had completely forgotten her spot on the page and had to start again.

It was so strange, May reflected. She had rarely spoken to Drew her entire life, but all of a sudden, she was finding herself wrapped up in stupid, random conversations with him. Bethany had asked what was going on between them, and May still had no idea. Of course, she was much too busy to really focus on that right now.

The bell signaling the end of the day pierced the library's quiet atmosphere and May jumped. She looked forlornly at her page of notes; it was discouragingly short. Drew hadn't fared much better.

"Well, I could go to the library tomorrow during free period to do more work. See you later, Drew."

She departed before he had a chance to reply and remind her that it was a project they had to work on together. He watched her meet Bethany at the door and exit, wondering about the feeling he felt in his chest as he watched her go. It was a mixture of so many others, and a few he had no way to name.

He brightened suddenly as a great idea struck him. Not only would it take a lot of strain off of his and May's shoulders, but it would also take away the nagging feeling of guilt he felt in his gut when he remembered yesterday. He took as many books on chemistry as he could carry and took them to the librarian's desk. He dropped them with a loud THUNK onto the table and smiled over the topmost volume.

"Ms. Pierce? Could I check these out for one night, please?"

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

Drew cursed through his teeth as the lead of his mechanical pencil snapped and soared off his desk. He pounded the eraser with his thumb and continued scribbling notes in the science fair notebook. Once had had gotten home, he had rushed through his homework and dinner, then ran back up to his room to finish taking notes for the project.

Why was he doing this? Drew had no frickin' idea; all he knew was that he kept seeing her forlorn face in his mind and saying, "I don't know what to do." For some reason, it killed him on the inside to see her unsure about something, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help her, no matter what.

He swore again when his pencil broke, and his bedroom door opened.

"Drew?" The young man asked as he walked into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Why? What time is it?" Drew asked, his back popping as he sat up for the first time in hours and glancing at the clock. It was 11:30. "Oh."

"What're you doing?" Dean asked, sitting on top of Drew's bed. He was in his early twenties and home from college for the summer. Unlike Drew, who resembled their father, Dean took after their mother, with sea-foam green hair, light green eyes, and a round face. He was wearing a black t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Taking notes for a project in science," Drew explained, "The science fair is coming up, and I'm behind."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. I was paired up with my girlfriend for that," Dean added thoughtfully, "Who's your partner?"

Drew looked away from his brother to hide the flush on his face. "…May Maple."

Dean nodded. "Oh, yeah, I know her. Your little 'rival.'" He grinned a slightly evil smile, then continued: "I wanted to talk to you, Drew."

"I thought it was Dad's job to have The Talk with me," Drew said, bemused.

"Not that Talk," Dean said impatiently. "I'm worried about you. For the last week I could hear you through the wall, thrashing around until past midnight. Are you okay? You're not stressing over school too much, are you?"

Drew looked at his brother's concerned face. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not anything. You were always a terrible liar," Dean said loftily. "Tell me."

Drew reconsidered. Dean had always been a good big brother; it struck him that Dean would not be as cryptic or condescending as Jack.

"Dean, what if…" Drew started slowly. "For your entire life, you've been obsessed with trying to outdo a certain classmate in grades, sports, and social status, you've constantly tried to get under their skin, you've made them _hate _you… then, you're put together on a school project for two weeks….and before you know it, that classmate is _always_ on your mind, you're picking over every word of your conversations, you can't think straight around them, just hearing them say your name makes your heart pound, and you're feeling something you've never felt before?"

He looked at Dean with vulnerable eyes. Dean suddenly realized out truly freaked out his little brother was, to be suddenly drowning in new emotions he had had no idea were coming.

"I assume the classmate is May?" Dean asked.

Drew made a face. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask."

"As if I wouldn't," Dean said. "Well, what do _you_ think it is?"

"Huh?" Drew said. He had been expecting Dean to just tell him what it was off the bat. Looks like he was going to be even worse than Jack.

"Oh, well, you're hopeless," Dean groaned. "Let's take this in steps." He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. "What do you notice about May when you're around her?"

Drew thought for a moment. A million things came to his mind. "Well, she's really sweet, and nice, and she takes her studies as seriously as I take mine, she's…" he struggled to find the right word "…gorgeous, she's fun to be around, she's always there for her friends, she works hard, she doesn't hold grudges." Drew stopped, surprised at all of the wonderful things he had never noticed about her.

Dean looked moderately impressed at his brother's list of reasons for liking May, not the least being that he saw more in her than her body.

"And, Drew, supposing you were with her for more than a project, what would you want to be for her?"

Drew thought again. "A close friend. A fellow genius to study with. Someone she could count on when she needed someone." There was more, he realized. Someone to stand between her and the aggressive upperclassmen. A shoulder to lay her head on. A prom date. A first –

Drew shook his head to stop himself from completing that last thought. Dean chuckled. "Do you ever feel nervous around her?"

"Pff." Drew snorted. "Do I. It's pathetic; half the time, I can't even focus on what I'm reading or writing when she's around. Don't make me list my maladies."

"I won't." Dean had a little smile on his face. He stood up. "Now you have to put all of that together, and answer, what is that feeling you feel when she walks into a room?"

He bade Drew goodnight and left Drew to his thoughts.

Despite his clock striking midnight, Drew sat thinking. The feeling? Or should the question be these feelings? The mixture of giddiness, horror, embarrassment, and happiness he felt whenever she looked at him?

Drew opened the bottom drawer of his desk and took out a photo album. He turned the pages of photos slowly and finally came to the picture he sought. It was a photo from Jack's Christmas party that year, the night after school let out for the winter break. The others had gone on all night about getting a picture of him and May together, and the two had finally caved at the end of the party. They had both resented the pressure and took out on the other, trying to make the photo as uncomfortable as possible. Drew had stuck up his hand behind her head in the classic "bunny ears" gesture. Bethany had tipped May off, and she responded by putting and arm around his neck so tightly she half-strangled him. Drew's retaliation had been to take his free arm and wrap it around her waist from the front; he still remembered the raised eyebrows the guys had given him. He had told them later that he'd just been trying to make her squirm. Through it all, they had managed to keep their cheesy, fake smiles on their faces.

Now, Drew found himself gazing at her figure. For the party she had worn a red fuzzy sweater with a Santa hat. Her hair fell over her right shoulder as she tilted her head so it laid against Drew's, and the camera had managed to catch the firelight's flickers shining in her eyes.

Suddenly, it all fell into place.

Paul asking him, "Well, why do you tease her?"

Mr. Peters saying, "I look at it a little differently than the other teachers."

Jack telling him that he'd liked her for his entire life, but not realized it.

It was true. Drew had been so busy trying to hate her, and find more reasons for hating her, that he had seen everything he would have valued in a girl he liked. He had just been looking at her qualities the wrong way. But not anymore. Now it was as clear as day.

The feeling was _attraction._

Drew had a huge, pathetic, passionate crush on his rival, May.

As that realization took up every particle of his brain, Drew felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Without further thought, he turned off his lamp, stumbled on top of his bed, and fell into the soundest sleep he had had all week.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_Amv: I'm so glad that that's done, you have no idea. Hope you liked it. Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Amv: Update, yay! I hope this is long enough for the long pause. Also, if you haven't noticed, I posted a new Harry Potter fanfiction called _Shades of Gray. _It would mean a lot if you were to go and review! I don't own pokemon!_

**Chapter Five**

May jumped a foot in the air as a huge crash shook the library table she was working on. She looked up a tall stack of books and met a pair of dark green eyes. Drew looked far better rested than he had all week, and pleased with himself.

"We're done," he announced.

"Wh-what?" May stammered.

"The research. I finished it for us last night, so now we're all caught up. Here's the notebook."

May stood up and slowly walked around the table to take the notebook from the hand he offered. She turned the pages, reading all of the careful notes, the graphs, the statistics…it went on and on, page after page, until coming to a full bibliography.

Drew noticed the unreadable expression on her face and felt a sinking in his stomach. "I-I just thought we should catch up, you know, so we can get started on planning our experiment since we won't be able to meet this weekend. I'm sorry, are you mad?"

"Mad?" May looked up at him, surprised. "Why would I be mad? Drew, this is _amazing._"

Drew's heart jumped at hearing her say his name and felt his cheeks redden at her praise. He quickly turned away, running a hand through his hair and saying, "Well, uh, thanks, I guess. Let's put these back, they take up too much room."

"Mm-hm," May agreed, taking half of the stack and returning with him to the well-paced chemistry section. She stuffed most of them onto a shelf until she had one book left. She could see no spots left except for one on the very topmost shelf. May stood up on her tiptoes but still couldn't reach it. She had put her foot up on the lowest shelf and was fully prepared to climb the bookshelf when Drew came over.

"Don't kill yourself, I got it," he said, taking the book out of her hand and reaching up to slide it into place. May, watching him, was suddenly struck by how tall he had become. The top of her head came just below his chin.

"There," Drew's voice snapped May out of her reverie as he settled the book into place. He pulled down his arm and glanced down into May's eyes. His heart nearly stopped. His face was hovering very close above hers. If he leaned down only a bit, he could have kissed her. His head spun at the very thought.

But then he remembered that even if he had fallen pathetically in love with her in five days (or at least _realized _he was pathetically in love with her) they were still supposed to be rivals. Drew swallowed then took a step back, flicked his hair, and returned to their table without a word. May remained still, her heart going a mild a minute. Once she felt she had calmed down enough she faced him she went back to the table and sat across from him. She noticed he was doing his Spanish homework.

"Um…what're you doing?"

"Well, since I took all of the notes last night, I'm ahead of you. So I figured I'd let you catch up to me, just this once." He flashed a quick grin.

May gave a small laugh and flipped open the notebook. She couldn't help but be impressed with the clarity and legibility of his writing (not that it could even compare to hers) and was surprised that they seemed to use the same abbreviations and shortcuts to make the writing go faster. Helpfully, though May didn't know if he did this out of habit or to make things easier for himself, he had highlighted key words and information that was most important. When the bell rang for lunch, she was only halfway through the book and reluctantly closed the notebook. She would continue reading later.

Drew was frowning down at his worksheet. "I keep forgetting the little words," he muttered in response to her questioning look.

"What word?" May asked, setting her books down and leaning down to read his paper. Drew prayed she wouldn't notice how his hands trembled at their proximity.

"D'you know what _enseñar _means?" He asked, looking up at her sheepishly.

"Yeah, it's 'to teach.' And _nieva _is 'snow,'" She pointed to the blank in the previous question.

"I knew that," Drew said as he scribbled down the answer. "Oh, forget it, I'll do this later. Let's get to lunch."

May nodded and took up her books again and went to the door with him. The halls were deserted, everyone having lunch this period having already gone to lunch. They both stopped at the hallway where they went their separate ways to their lockers. Drew gave her a short nod before turning away, but May called his name to stop him. She held her book s close to her chest like a comfort blanket.

"Look," she said, looking very nervous. "I mean, what you did, with staying up till God knows how late and taking those notes, and letting me catch up…That was awesome. So, um, thanks."

Drew smiled slightly. "C'mon, May, it's no big deal."

"Not if it was anyone else. But it was you. And that's what makes it a big deal. I think we're actually beginning to get somewhere."

Before Drew could respond, May did something she'd never done before: she stood on the tips of her toes and gave him a small, brief, one-armed around his neck. Drew smelled like spearmint and aftershave, and he felt his breaths coming faster when she quickly pulled away and half-ran down the hallway. Drew watched her go with his mouth hanging open slightly. His heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt, and he swore he could still feel May's arm around him as he returned to his locker. He spun the dial in a daze, and it took him three tries to get it right. When he did and grabbed his lunch, she closed the door, leaned his back against the gray metal, punched the air, and yelled, "_Yes!"_

"Yes to what, exactly, Mr. Maxwell?" A deep, amused voice wondered from down the hall.

Drew felt his insides turn cold as Mr. Peters came towards him, accompanied by Mr. West. He had somehow forgotten, in his happy rush, that yelling in the hallway wasn't the best idea. He straightened up hurriedly and adjusted his collar, saying, "Er, nothing,. Sorry, sir, I'll be going now."

He forgot another school rule and ran down the hallway as Mr. Peters laughed, remembering the look on Drew's face before he saw the teachers: face flushed pale pink, eyes bright. He had been a teacher long enough to be able to recognize a teenager feeling something real, not going through one of those stupid flings that only lasted for two days.

"Plan going well, I daresay?" Mr. West observed, looking up at his colleague.

"Oh, yes," Mr. Peters laughed again. "Very well."

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Are you okay, May?" Misty asked for the third time during lunch, watching May poke at her tray. She had gotten the pizza today, which normally wasn't bad. But today, May had only taken a few small bites.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied mechanically. She didn't think she had to mention that her stomach was already full—of butterflies. (A/N- was that line in something else? I'm not trying to plagiarize, but this doesn't seem like my creativity here.)

"Well, we'll pretend we believe you for now," Dawn sighed. "When you wanna stop lying and tell us what's up, feel free."

May smiled faintly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Bethany, Misty, and Dawn went back to their discussion about music, allowing May to retreat back into her thoughts. She didn't know what she couldn't believe more: the fact that she hadn't had the self-control to refrain from hugging her partner, or the overwhelming emotions that were borne because of it. The waves of surprise, giddiness, embarrassment, and comfort. Even if he hadn't hugged her back (not that she'd given him the chance to) his warmth had seemed to envelop her, and her chin had fit into the small dip between his neck and shoulder.

Feeling her face flush, May shook her head to snap herself out of these thoughts. Fortunately, he friends hadn't noticed.

On the other end of the cafeteria, at the boys' table, it was a different story.

"Drew, you're scaring me," Jack said slowly, watching his friend eat his apple.

"Why?" drew asked innocently with his mouth full. "I eat apples every day."

"True. But you don't go from phases of talking to Paul about his Dawn problem, laughing at Ash's jokes, and not nagging me about my homework to staring across the cafeteria, in the same direction every single time, I might add, with the most pathetic puppy-dog stare I've ever seen outside a TV show." Jack replied.

"What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that you never help Paul out with his shyness around Dawn, you never think Ash is funny, and you always are on my back about my homework." When he finished, Drew nodded and glanced across the cafeteria.

Jack heaved an exasperated sigh and put his head next to Drew's to follow his gaze. At first he saw nothing of importance, but then a familiar brunette appeared after someone sat down.

Drew heard a sharp intake of breath in his ear and turned to see Jack staring at him in wonder. In a moment, he knew that Jack had seen what he had been gazing so intently at.

"No way," Jack said, a grin breaking out across his face. _"No way…"_

"What?" Drew asked sharply. His heart was beginning to throb; he couldn't have been that obvious, could he?

"You…Do you…You _do…_" Jack was starting to laugh.

"I do what?" Drew ignored the many ways that phrase could be interpreted as he began to panic.

"At last! God, it's only been ten years!" Jack was rocking back and forth now. "You do! Don't you? Admit it!"

"Admit what?"

Jack grinned and leaned in and said slyly in Drew's ear, "You _like May, _don't you?"

"NO!" Drew denied much too loudly, aware that Paul and Ash were beginning to cotton on.

"May?" Paul said, surprised. "Are you actually realizing that you _like _her? I always thought you knew but were too proud to own up to it with us."

"No," Drew said, still speaking quickly. "No, no, I don't, she's just my chemistry partner—"

"Which is of course why you're blushing redder than that stupid apple you eat every day."

"You like her," Ash snickered. "Come on, come clean Drew!"

"I don't like her!" Drew blustered, "May's just—"

"Oho!" Jack pointed at him, and Drew immediately realized his blunder. "We're calling her 'May' now, are we?"

"It's just—I—I mean I—She—" Drew stammered incoherently. To his horror, Jack stood up, knelt to his knees on the cafeteria floor, kissed his fingertips, and raised them skyward. "THANK YOU!"

"Jack!" Drew hissed through clenched teeth, dragging Jack back into is seat by his shirt collar while other students began to stare. "If I say 'yes,' will you stop embarrassing the hell out of me?"

"Maybe…" Jack smiled evilly.

It was worth a shot. Drew sighed, the fight draining out of him and going scarlet as he said, "Fine—I have an enormous, pathetic crush on May, okay?"

Jack smiled and closed his eyes, drinking in his words. Then he opened them, clapped Drew on the shoulder, and said "Good to know you're finally seeing the light" before returning to his lunch as if nothing had happened.

Drew sighed again and cupped his chin in his hand with his elbow resting on the table. "I have no chance with her, do I?"

Ash laughed, Paul rolled, his eyes, and Jack snorted.

"Yes, you do," Ash said simply.

"I wish I had _half _your chance," Paul grumbled.

"You two were made for each other," Jack shrugged.

Drew felt himself go red but was elated nonetheless.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

May snuck a peek at Drew through her hair as he drew plans for their experiment in science that day. She was multitasking, studying the notes Drew took and helping him form the outline of the procedure. Since Drew had admitted that this wasn't his strong point, May had chosen to help with this instead of dedicating the time to sole studying.

"Okay, so first, second, third…" Drew tapped his pencil on each numbered step. "Are these in a semi-logical order?" He turned to her.

"Hm." May thought and took up her pencil to point at the page. "It's good, really. I just think, do we really _need _to say 'gather materials?' Isn't that kind of obvious? Nothing against you, but…"

"True. If the poor idiot can't figure out that they need to get the materials before the experiment, then shame on them." He crossed out step one.

May laughed and went back to the notebook. Drew stared at her for a few seconds; even if they weren't on him, those clear blue eyes had a hypnotizing quality that could have caught him for the entire class.

The bell signaling the end of the day echoed through the building, and students picked up their things and left at speeds unknown during the week: it was, after all, a Friday. Normal people would be staying up all night watching TV, or playing video games, or talking to their girlfriends on the phone.

Drew shook his head to clear it of that last thought, an action May fortunately didn't notice. He packed his things and looked at May. She was still there, holding the notebook out to him.

He shook his head. "Nah, keep it."

May looked surprised and stacked it on top of her books. "Thanks. Well. I'll do some work on the project to get us ahead. I can't believe the fair's a week from today. Then we're done."

Drew's heart dropped, both because she was already thinking about being shot of him and the realization that he had only a week's worth of excuses left to spend time with her. When it was over, he would either have to come clean about his crazy new feelings for her and pray she felt the same or forget it, blow it off as hormones, and go back to barely talking to her.

AS she stood, the uppermost volumes of May's stack of books tilted alarmingly, and she had to tilt as well to prevent them from falling. Drew chuckled as her hair fell into her face. He stepped over to her and did something that Jack would have called "smooth," but Drew would later pound his head on a textbook as he told Dean about the "stupid" thing he did.

He reached up and gently brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, letting his fingertips brush down its length to her shoulders. Her hair was soft and smooth, and as soon as he pulled away he wanted to touch it again, but he controlled himself and said, "Don't do too much, 'kay? It's my project, too."

May smiled shakily up at him and quickly spun around so that her back was to him. "Whatever you say."

Drew laughed; the giddiness he had felt after she hugged him was sweeping through his body once again. May sighed silently for two reasons. One, she had been afraid that there might be weirdness between her and Drew after she hugged him and was glad to see that that wasn't the case. The second reason…well, she thought the extra oxygen in her system wouldn't do much harm.

Too soon, they had reached the hallway where she and Drew went their separate ways. May looked up at him and wanted to hug him again, but settled for smiling awkwardly. There were still students in the halls, and she didn't want to accidentally start a rumor about her and Drew.

Drew returned the awkward smile. "See you Monday."

May turned and walked away, holding her books tightly and thinking, _Monday's too far away._

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

May slipped her bookmark into her _Sherlock Holmes _book and set it down on her bedside table with its usual loud _thunk_. (A/N-that thing's BIG!) She glanced at the picture of her party (meaning her picture of Drew) and yawned. It was 11:30, and she felt like it should already be Sunday. What did it mean when Drew ran a hand through her hair? He had just been pushing it out of the way so she didn't trip and fall, and it wasn't a big deal anyway, despite her head screaming at her that it _was, _indeed, a big deal, a huge deal, an enormous deal—she told the voice to shut up. However, she couldn't shut up the feelings that had accompanied the action. No boy had ever made her feel that, but then, so much had changed that week. It was undeniable, that May had gone from hating having Drew go to the same school as to not being able to face two days without him—which was unhealthy, to say the least.

She didn't understand why she was suddenly so crazy when it came to her rival, and it frightened her a little. She had always been May Maple, brainiac, the girl who had it all together, mature, witty, the one Drew Maxwell had to bust his butt to rival. Now she was May Maple, brainiac, the girl who had it all together, mature, witty, the one Drew Maxwell had seemed to suddenly cast a spell over. How could she figure out what it was? There was a way, wasn't there?

May suddenly brightened as a great idea struck her. It solved her problems: working on the project, satisfying this strange desire to see Drew, decide her feelings. She reached over and turned off the light before snuggling into her sheets.

Tomorrow, she would find out if there was a small, tiny, minuscule, microscopic, almost nonexistent possibility of her liking Drew.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

_Amv: Wow. O—BLIV—I—OUS. This is actually almost painful to write about. I hope you enjoyed it, please review! And please read and review _Shades of Gray!


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